


A Piece of my Mind

by masseylass



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Chem Use, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gay, Humor, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23167489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masseylass/pseuds/masseylass
Summary: Nate has a full-on meltdown in Sanctuary Hills after escaping the vault. When he comes to, a helpful (if douchey and admittedly attractive) ghoul offers to lend a hand. The catch? Jimmy the Ghoul is not only Nate's imaginary friend, but was born of his descent into madness. As Nate and Jimmy travel together, Nate realizes he relies on Jimmy. Despite striving to regain control of his mental health, he refuses to give up his sarcastic counterpart and takes drastic measures to separate himself while keeping Jimmy fully intact.
Relationships: Sole Survivor/OC, Sole Survivor/Sole Survivor (Fallout)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Nate's Mental Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate meets Jimmy, a figment of his imagination. He also takes his pants off.

_“So you just woke up in the obliterated wreckage of your old neighborhood! Your fat ass is about five seconds away from ripping the seam of your vault suit, and your Mr. Handy is judging you for abandoning him. Now, you might be asking, **what happens next?** Well never fret! Jimmy the Ghoul is here to make it all crystal clear!”_

“Wh-what? Who the hell are you?!” gasped Nate, looking past Codsworth at the ghoul in the dirty, patchwork suit. He leaned casually on one hip.

_“What are you fuckin retarded? I’m Jimmy. Did you hear a single word I said?”_

“Y-yeah sorry I just…” 

_“Jesus kid, breathe, will ya?”_

Nate took a deep breath and counted to five. 

_“There we go. That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”_ Jimmy folded his arms across his chest raising an eyebrow…or lack thereof.

“I…I don’t know. Look, one minute I was with my wife and son, and the next, these air raid sirens went off and-”

_“Nah nah nahnahnah, no need to explain. I saw everything.”_

Nate rose to his feet. Piss was caked into the crotch of his vault suit and he was parched and dazed. “What do you mean you ‘saw everything?’” he asked, swaying a little. 

_“Cause I **am** you. Or at least the part of your brain that didn’t get fried when you had that full-on, 24-hour meltdown.”_ Jimmy paused and scratched his pocked chin, looking up at the sky and squinting at the rays of the sun which had reached high noon. _“Eh come to think of it I might actually come from the part of your brain that **was** fried. I’m a pretty fucked up guy.”_

“Okay?” Nate scoffed. After all, this Jimmy guy wasn’t imaginary. He was real, and he was standing right there with this sandy-colored, pompadour wig (there was no way that was his real hair…right?) and a pair of crystal blue eyes. He had a half smile and dimples so deep that Nate could see them even through his crevassed cheeks. 

Jimmy cocked his head to the side and tittered. _“What? Like what you see?”_

“I. What? No!” Nate wrinkled his nose. Then he promptly unwrinkled it. “I mean you aren’t _bad_ looking per se, but…”

“Master Nate?” whined Codsworth. His jets gave a concerned flutter. “You’re speaking to yourself, sir…”

“No I’m not. See? Jimmy the Ghoul is standing right there.”

Nate pointed to Jimmy, who gave a friendly wave to Codsworth. _“How’s it goin’ buddy?”_

Codsworth’s shutters flickered and he seemed to sink a bit as though he were sighing. “You aren’t going to Concord, are you, sir?”

Nate glanced over at Jimmy, who said, _“It’s cool man, I’ve got your back. Think of your new life in the apocalypse like a video game, and I’m the tutorial. Any questions you got, feel free to ask’em and I’ll point you in the right direction. Your life is a clean slate, man; you can do anything you want, be anyone you wanna be.”_

“Well should I go to Concord and try to find help?”

_“Sure, if you’re a square.”_

“I’m not a square!” hollered Nate. Codsworth looked like he was real over it.

_“So then don’t go to Concord.”_

“Then where _do_ I go?”

_“Well first you ditch the suit. I’d say wash it but why bother? It looks like shit on you anyway.”_

“Gee, thanks Jimmy.”

_“What can I say? I’m honest. Go ahead. Strip.”_

“What, here?!”

 _“Uh, hellooooo-oooo?!”_ shouted the sassy ghoul, _“This is 2287, who’s gonna judge you? This guy? Puh leeze.”_

“Sir?” whimpered Codsworth as if on cue.

Nate pondered this concept for a moment. Maybe Jimmy was right. Everything Nate had was lost: his wife, his kid, even his house which was a steaming pile of garbage now. It seemed Codsworth wouldn’t be much use anymore since there was nothing left to cook or clean. Nate shrugged and started unzipping his suit. 

“My word! _Sir!_ ” gasped the Mr. Handy. “Have you any human decency left?! It seems the last two hundred years have CLEARLY changed you, and dare I say, not for the better. Now if you happen to remember what _manners_ are then by all means come back to Sanctuary and visit - - OH HEAVENS NOT THE SMALLCLOTHES SIR!”


	2. Shoot Up or Shut Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate gets dressed, takes chems, and meets a dog.

_“Heh heh heh. Better, right?”_

“It’s actually pretty cold out. And I dunno Jimmy, I feel kinda bad about Codsworth.”

_“Why? He survived the last couple centuries, he’ll live for a couple more.”_

“He just looked kinda…messed up. Like, mentally.”

_“Christ, man, he’s a fuckin robot. You goin’ soft on me?”_ Jimmy rumbled, his tenor low and hoarse. 

“Dude, we just met. Chill.”

Jimmy shot Nate a cold, hard look, but only for a moment. After that his shoulders visibly relaxed and he sighed. _“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry bout that. Guess I’m kind of a hothead.”_

Nate glanced down having just stepped off the footbridge from Sanctuary Hills toward the fuel station. There was a raider corpse as well as a dead, feral dog on the pavement. Both were putrid and rotten and covered in flies, a couple days old at least. Nate clamped his hand over his jaw and dry retched, turning his head quickly away.

_“Oh man, you really gotta relax,”_ said Jimmy, placing a craggy hand against Nate’s back. _“This kind of thing is pretty commonplace nowadays. You’re as likely to find a bloated corpse as you are a box of Blamco Mac N Cheese or a syringe of psycho.”_

“Wh-what’s _psycho?_ ” inquired Nate, voice muffled by his palm.

_“Oh boy oh boy, this is gonna be fun. So you know that house you looted back there, the one that obviously belonged to that chem dealer?”_

“The one with the safe? Yeah, what about it?” asked Nate, finally letting his hand drop but still staring dubiously at the corpses.

_“Psycho,”_ explained the ghoul, _“is what you’ve got in your pocket there. Go on. Take it out and I’ll teach ya a couple things.”_

“What kind of things…” This wasn’t so much a question as it was a turn of caution. Nate narrowed his eyes, unpocketing the large, rusty syringe. 

_“Like how to not be a pussy for starters.”_

Nate’s eyes squinted further and creases formed on his forehead.

_“Oh come on, don’t look at me like that. We’ll share.”_

“What?! I’m not sharing a needle!”

_“Oh for pete’s…LOOK MAN, I’M YOU, REMEMEBER?! I’M NOT EVEN REAL! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GONNA BE A DICK ABOUT-”_

“Okay, Jesus! I’ll share my weird drugs with my weird imaginary friend!”

_“Good!”_ replied Jimmy a little indignantly, _“Because I was THIS close to callin’ our partnership quits over your attitude.”_

“My attitude? You just said you ARE me!”

_“Christ, I know right? Don’t know how you stand it. Now shoot up or shut up.”_

-

“FUCKING KILLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

_“Good boy. Now do what I told you to do.”_

Nate’s eyes were wild and bloodshot as he practically tore the clothes off of the corpse, angrily writhing about the ground as he struggled to stuff his flailing limbs inside of sleeves and pant legs. He snarled and rose to his feet, slouched over, fingers gripping the air at nothing.

_“Good work chief. Now loot the bastard.”_

“FUCKING LOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!”

Nate’s palms scraped against the pavement as he dropped down onto all fours and rolled the guy over, tearing off the corpse’s underwear and watching caps spill out. 

_“Yeah, grab those.”_

“ASS CAAAAAAAAPS???!!!!!!!!”

_“Trust me and just take the ass caps kid.”_

Sixty seconds later and a chem-fueled Nate was stomping down the road, caps spilling out of his clenched fists. A shotgun was strapped to his back, pipe pistol tucked into his new (used, corpsey) pants. His knuckles were white and he smelled like death and buttholes. Something stirred in his peripheral vision and he stopped, grunted, and snarled. 

“FUCKING DOGGO!!!!!!!!!!!”

The curious German Shepherd whimpered, tucked its tail between its legs, and bolted in the opposite direction around back of the fuel station.


End file.
